#8. Lee Garden gurus

In November and December, we harvested many crops, such as kale, spinach, carrots, beets, Bok Choy, turnips, Mizuna, lettuce, arugula, Asian greens, cilantro, mint, and radish. Did you know we planted the carrot seeds in early September?

Harvesting is exciting and glorious. I love to see it. At the same time, I think it can be even more exciting and fulfilling if you do everything from preparing the soil and seeding to caring for them daily and harvesting. You will have so many memories with your plants until harvest.

When plants grow and the garden looks gorgeous, many people visit there. But I want you to know that the more critical time is far before - when the soil has no plants yet. If you don't plant seeds in the soil, vegetables don't grow there. Whether you act or not depends on how you see the land, barren land or land for possibilities. The more opportunities you can see, the more you will take care of it. I believe that taking action needs creativity, and agriculture fosters it. When I see the site with no plants, I am most excited.

I explore to offer garden education to grow creativity and resilience.

Try our harvest at the cafeteria on Wednesdays! I appreciate that our amazing cafeteria staff serves them for our kids!

I am curious about how you see our garden. You are welcome to post your garden drawings, photos, videos, & articles on Schoology > Lee Elementary: All Learners > Lee Garden > Pictures, Videos, & Articles for Newsletter (Media Album).

I posted a beautiful photo from the low angle taken by Esha in B4b during the Nature Walk. B2, G1, and Y3A tried realistic drawing in the garden. Some of their excellent work is posted below. I was impressed by how well the learners observed the plant's details, such as shapes, colors, and hues, and drew them in about 30 minutes!

I sighed. Because the garden nozzle broke again. Do we have to buy new ones repeatedly and keep throwing them away? I had no idea how to repair it, but I thought someone could fix it. So, I displayed it with a note, "Can anyone fix it?" in the high-traffic area of the school.

A week later, Ms. Lamb asked me to try, and then I found her friend and a horticulturist, Mr. Miles, repaired it. He also kindly came to teach us how to do it. That's how RJL Fixing Club started with a group of 5th grade volunteers. Thank you, Ms. Lamb and Mr. Miles!

We are collecting broken garden nozzles to master repairing. Our club members have been working hard to mention that on Lee Live and make flyers. If you have one, please bring it to school. We have boxes at the front & back entrances and near the 1F elevator. If we fix it, we will return it to you!

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RJL Fixing Club on Lee Live Stream on December 5.

We are discussing our club's name and want your opinion.

When do bluebonnets bloom? Yes, they do in spring, but how are they doing now? Are they already sprouted?

We have been observing bluebonnets monthly during the Nature Walk since October. We found some bluebonnets sprouted during the walk from October 19th - 23rd - some had only baby leaves, and others had baby ones and true leaves. We found more sprouted ones on November 8th and many more true leaves on December 5th, even though the field was mowed the day before. G3 scattered bluebonnet seeds near the front loop during the walk on October 23rd, and some sprouted!

They grow roots and leaves long before they bloom. We will have a cold winter from now. Let's keep an eye on them and see the changes over time!

Did you know that we have many worms in our school? We grow them in a worm tower (5 layers of worm bin). Why? Because worm castings (worm poop) are perfect for plants. They have many beneficial microbes, provide essential nutrients, improve soil structure, and protect plants from diseases, which help plants grow healthy.

We have small worms called "Red Wigglers," which are suitable for worm composting. They look cute, actually, and eat about half of their body weight of organic matter each day.

All the tower layers were filled with the worms and bedding from Ms. Jensen. She gave her entire worm bin to our STEAM project for the whole school to learn.

The bottom of each layer is mesh, so the worms migrate between the layers, seeking food. We stopped adding food on the bottom layer for about two weeks to move the worms to the above ones to make it easier to harvest vermicompost (worm castings and organic material in various stages of decomposition).

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During STEAM on November 28th, G5 dumped the bottom layer into the container and filled it with new bedding. Then, they moved the remaining worms to the new layer to harvest vermicompost. B1 added it to our garden.

As the worm tower is heavy, I made a board with casters to make it mobile. Then, I sometimes take it for a walk. The worms visited Active Learning, Practical Academics, B4A &B. I hope to show them to your class. It is cool to know how worms help plants and eventually us!

Thank you to the teachers for collaborating and bringing your learners to the outdoor learning!

I used some pictures our teachers posted on X.